New format for the Freed to Run fundraiser

Freed to Run 4.0 still will feature six marathons in six days, Nov. 16-21, from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, but for the first time the final leg will be on Saturday and the route will conclude with a 14-mile home stretch on the Baldwin Trail.

Freed to Run founder and Gunster shareholder Mike Freed said the change was made to allow greater participation in the annual fundraiser for the Freed to Run 4.0 Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership endowment at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.

“Having the sixth marathon and the 5K on a Saturday will make it easier for folks who work Monday through Friday to participate. Due to the pandemic, we wanted to make sure everyone could participate in the way that felt safest to them. Teams can even run a virtual marathon, making the handoff at the end of each leg via Zoom or however they choose,” Freed said.

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Mike Freed
Changes in store for Freed to Run 4.0 Nov. 16-21

New route includes Baldwin Trail; Saturday Finish at Duval County Courthouse; Virtual Run Option

Freed to Run 4.0 , November 16-21, will still feature six marathons in six days from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, but for the first time the sixth and final marathon will be on a Saturday, and the route will include a 14-mile stretch on the Baldwin Trail.

Participants in Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s largest annual fundraiser can also complete their marathon leg anywhere, including in their own neighborhoods or even on a treadmill at home.

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Mike Freed
Medical, legal and business leaders co-chair Freed to Run 4.0

It collected more than $1 million in its first three years, and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s largest annual event, Freed to Run, is moving toward its $2.25 million goal.

Freed to Run 4.0 co-chairs are Dr. Nayla Osman-Chahlavi, a pediatrician at Village Pediatrics; Dr. Ali Chahlavi, a neurosurgeon at St. Vincent’s Medical Center; Richard Fannin, financial adviser with Wells Fargo advisors; and retired 4th Judicial Circuit Judge Hugh Carithers.

They will work to attract sponsors and relay teams, with the Chahlavis focusing on the health care community, Fannin on the business community, and Carithers on the legal community and related industries, according to a news release from JALA.

Nemours Children’s Specialty Care kicked off the 2020 campaign with a $10,000 lead gift.

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Freed to Run
Dr. Paul Pitel of Nemours Children’s Specialty Care to be honored by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (photo courtesy of Attorney at Law Magazine First Coast Edition)

Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Nemours Children's Specialty Care in Jacksonville since 1997, Dr. Paul Pitel is recognized as a towering figure in children’s health, not only by his peers in medicine, but also by a group of lawyers who are also dedicated to the well-being of Northeast Florida’s pediatric patients.

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is presenting Pitel, who is now retiring, with its third annual Bridges to Justice for Children’s Health Award Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 6:30 p.m. in a Facebook Live event at www.facebook.com/JaxLegalAid/

The nonprofit law firm’s Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership enables the region’s health-care institutions to refer pediatric patients and their families to civil legal aid to resolve issues impacting the children’s health.

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Mike Freed
More Than $1 MILLION Raised For Medical-Legal Partnership Through Freed To Run Marathon Series

With the donations from Freed to Run 3.0 counted, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is now nearly halfway to its goal of creating a $2.25 million endowment for the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership, having raised $1,035,000, including Baptist Health’s 125% match.

“I’m so thankful for the broad community support that has made this possible,” said Gunster’s Mike Freed, who on the final day of the 2019 event ran his 18th Freed to Run marathon in three years. “The involvement of the Jaguars Foundation, Florida Blue, the Jax Chamber, Community First Credit Union, Jacksonville University, and the UNF School of Music really shows that the appeal of this cause goes well beyond the legal community.”

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Freed to Run
Freed to Run passes $1 million mark

Three years into his five-year program to raise money to support a $2.25 million endowment at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, attorney Mike Freed, founder of Freed to Run, has passed the $1 million mark.

Freed to Run, a daily marathon run for six consecutive days, starts at the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee and ends at the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville.

The run stops each day at county courthouses along the route.

When Freed crossed the finish line Dec. 20 at the Duval County Courthouse, the donations to date totaled $1,035,000, including a match from the Baptist Health Foundation.

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Freed to Run